Amazon has recently launched its Echo Dot Speaker, a voice controlled device from the Echo family. Surprisingly, the new Dot only costs $49.99, which is a little over half from the price of the $90 Echo Dot which was launched in March.

The company hasn’t stated why the new Dot is so cheap. On the surface, it looks just like the old Dot. and on the inside, Amazon has promised to incorporate even better voice recognition technologies and a faster CPU.

A new ESP feature has been added as well. Fortunately, it’s not the one that has become the norm in modern vehicles, improving their traction. Dot’s ESP stands for eco-spatial perception, a fancy name for a feature that will detect which Echo Dot is the closest to you and use it to process your voice commands.

But who will want to purchase several Echo Dots? Lots of people, it seems, because Amazon also sells them in 6 packs and 12 packs packages. Buy a 6 pack and one of the Dots is free or buy a 12 pack and you get 2 Dots for free.

The device will also be launched in the UK, where Alexa’s voice will be replaced with a British one.

Acer Switch Alpha 12

When was the last time you saw a convertible device featuring liquid cooling? I know, I’ve never seen one either. But Acer has recently released a powerful Windows 10 convertible, and due to its liquid cooling system, it packs quite a bit of punch.

If you’ve ever wanted a truly portable laptop that’s powerful and has a fanless design, the Switch Alpha 12 may be exactly what you were looking for.

The Switch Alpha has a detachable keyboard and a stylus, just like Microsoft’s Surface Pro. And yet, Acer’s laptop blows the competition out of the water by sticking an extremely attractive $600 price tag to its notebook.

The name may have given it away: the Alpha 12 has a 12″ display, albeit the bezels are bit thicker than what I would have wanted them to be. Don’t let this turn you down, though; the bezels aren’t huge, and this convertible looks really good – take a look!

The laptop can be configured with Intel’s 6th generation Core I3, I5 or I7 and up to 8 GB of RAM. Believe it or not, storage is SSD-based even for the entry-level machine, an incredible feature for a $600 convertible. And with the base model, storage space starts at a decent 128 GB.

The screen resolution is 2,160 x 1,440 pixels and the IPS display is simply stunning!

With a device that’s half an inch thick, you would think that a full USB port is the best you can get. And yet, Acer has somehow managed to squeeze not one but two USB ports in, one of them being a lightning fast USB Type-C port.

Unlike Microsoft’s surface Pro, Acer’s Switch Alpha ships this convertible with a keyboard. You will still have to purchase the optional stylus (it costs $50) but let’s face it: few people are going to use it anyway.

According to Acer, the battery is able to deliver enough juice to get you through eight hours of work. I’m not sure if we can trust these numbers, but it’s safe to assume that the convertible will be able to run at least six hours on a charge.